'I am not an imbecile,' says Charamba

by Staff reporter

19 Oct 2017 at 06:46hrs | Views

Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba yesterday said she was not an imbecile as was allegedly suggested by Assistant Inspector James Mabasa, who is on trial for insulting her.

Giving evidence against her subordinate, Charamba said Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri could not have appointed her to the position of public relations officer if she was an imbecile.

"He (Mabasa) insulted me. How can he call me a person of low intelligence, an imbecile, moron and a person of extreme mental retardation? My boss Commissioner-General Chihuri could not have appointed me to my position if I was an idiot," Charamba said.

Mabasa's lawyer, Ashiel Mugiya, then asked Charamba if she had evidence to prove that his client was the one who insulted her.Charamba said she had faith in the investigation officers who handled the matter.

Mugiya again asked Charamba if she was the one who reported the matter to the police and she said her deputy, Paul Nyathi, did it on her behalf.

Charamba was also asked if what happened regarding the reporting of the matter was consistent with the country's Constitution, to which she responded that there were reasons why Nyathi reported on her behalf.

The trial was then postponed to October 30 for continuation.

Allegations against Mabasa are that on May 15 this year, he sent a message to a social group, which read: "The police used to hold meetings with magistrates and other law enforcement stakeholders to map a way forward, reducing lawlessness, but now it's the other way round, the public have meetings with lawyers on ways to disregard police. The public relations office is headed by an idiot who doesn't know that she has to encourage the public to be compliant to the police."